


How Theo Gets a Dog

by pinkdrinksandmusic



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Humor, M/M, Theo's POV, dad!Damen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 18:46:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19409182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkdrinksandmusic/pseuds/pinkdrinksandmusic
Summary: Theo woke up to the most perfect dog on his porch. Sadly, he has a collar and his dad wants to return him to his "rightful" owner.





	How Theo Gets a Dog

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by this thread with Ju on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jokasted/status/1137919252776792065 Theo was a delight to write and I hope you all enjoy! (I imagine Theo to be about eeeh maybe 9 or 10 in this.)

His dad was frowning.

Theo was sitting next to the most adorable being outside of himself, a golden retriever puppy he named Ranger. He was wagging his tail, sweeping it across the wooden floor of the porch he had found him. He had come downstairs after waking up and the sight of golden fur caught his eye through the window and there he was, gifted to him by God himself.

When he opened the door and saw Ranger in front of him, he immediately got to work, giving the good boy ear scratches.

At the sight of his dad in nothing but sweatpants opening the door, holding a cup of coffee and a surprised expression, Theo’s hand paused.

Ranger made small whimpering sounds and put his paws on Theo’s lap, nosing at his cheek and licking his face.

His heart felt full of love for him. He looked up to find his dad still frowning and looking at him like he often did when he was about to say Theo’s most hated word. The one that broke through his most fantastical daydreams of his perfect life.

He needed to come up with a sound argument, to stop the word from coming.

“Daaaad,” Theo whined, putting out his best argument, his best pouty face and pleading eyes. He wished he could cry on demand, but he made up for it by making his voice sound like he was close to tears.

Sadly his dad was immune.

“No.”

And there it was. His most hated word. Super effective (in crushing all his hopes and dreams).

Now he really _was_ close to tears.

“But WHY? He came on the porch he WANTS to be here!”

“Theo,” his dad said, not unkindly, “he has a collar.”

He KNEW he should have taken it off!

“But he wants to live with us!”

His dad said patiently, “He already has a home. It’s probably close by.”

He could cry from how unfair his dad was being. Didn’t he understand how he felt? Why didn’t he want him to be happy? No one could love Ranger as much as him.

“I’m going to get dressed and we’ll ask around, okay?”

“Fine…” Theo mumbled, not looking at his dad and instead looking at Ranger’s big, happy brown eyes that looked at him with trust and love. His tail was still wagging and his paws were still on his lap. He wondered if Ranger would miss him or be sad when they took him home. He certainly didn’t seem to miss his owner, but maybe he’d miss Theo? Maybe even enough to come back, then his dad can’t deny that Ranger is meant to be with them.

His dad didn’t take long, reappearing in a plain white shirt and jeans, his coffee transferred to a travel mug.

“Ready to go?”

“No.”

“Come on.” His dad offered his hand, but Theo ignored it, still hurt that he was being forced to part from his new friend. He got up on his own and walked ahead of his dad off the porch. Ranger followed after him immediately and it just made it hurt more.

They didn’t even get to enjoy a long walk together. Down the block and around the corner, they saw a man with blond hair holding a dark blue leash. His eyes went everywhere, across the street and all around him, looking distressed, and then fell on them. He froze for a moment, then his gaze went from his dad to Ranger, then back to his dad.

Theo looked at him, assessing. He didn’t look like a bad or scary person.

His dad held his hand up in greeting, then said in a friendly voice, “Lose something?”

The man’s shoulders relaxed and he walked up to them.

“Thank you. My brother was supposed to be watching him,” the man said.

“You should be more careful,” Theo said, pouting when Ranger ran ahead to greet his owner, his tail wagging faster than ever.

“Theo.”

He frowned further. His father had said his name in the voice he used when Theo said something bad.

In hopes of avoiding a scolding, he quickly said, “Sorry.”

The man didn’t look bothered.

“It’s okay. I’ll be sure to keep a better eye on him,” the man said as he put the leash on. “I was lucky this time, that he was found by someone who cares about him."

Theo’s face lifted as he felt a swell of happiness at the compliment.

“Is that you?” He saw his dad gesture to the house with a big white truck in front of it.

“Yes,” the man said, standing and looking back at his dad. “I’m renting for the year.”

“Do you want help? I don’t see movers…”

“My brother’s helping me until he has to go in to work.”

“When’s that?”

The man had a look on his face Theo recognized, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to answer. Theo often had that look with his dad when he got caught on a lie or his teacher called home because he hadn’t been turning in his homework. His dad didn’t think watching a marathon of his favorite cartoon was more important than doing his math homework. Theo just had to accept that they’d never see eye to eye on what was important. 

“Soon,” the man eventually answered after an eternity of hesitation. “I suppose if you don’t mind the trouble…”

“All I’ll ask for is a drink.”

“Tap water work?”

His dad looked like he was about to say something else, but then after a glance at Theo said, “Sure.”

“Your wife won’t mind?”

“No, no wife.”

“No…husband either?”

His dad was smirking. “I’m definitely not opposed to one, but no. I’m single.”

“I’m Laurent.”

“Damen. This is my son, Theo.”

“Hello, Theo.”

“Hi. I can watch Ranger for you while my dad helps you move. I promise I’ll keep an eye on him.” He tried to direct his pleading eyes on the man, hoping he wasn’t as immune as his dad.

Sadly, he ignored his pleading gaze and instead asked, “Ranger?”

“It’s what I named him,” Theo said, then added, politely, “What name did you give him?”

“Charls.”

 _Charls_? That was a horrible name!

He had to really hold himself back from saying it, but knew if he did the chances of his dad giving him a lecture on manners would go up. He wisely kept his thought to himself.

“Oh. That’s…an okay name, I guess.”

“Theo,” his dad said in a warning voice that frustrated him. He was told it was bad to lie and yet when he made his truth as polite as possible he was still in the wrong. He pretended not to remember his dad telling him that the most appropriate response is a neutral one or none at all.

He didn’t apologize. He said what he said.

“I don’t mind. Since you’re okay with being put to work, let’s go.”

There were a few things Theo noticed while he played with Ranger. The first being that his dad kept looking at Laurent and that whenever he wasn’t, Laurent was looking at him.

Theo was young, but old enough to see the signs of someone who had a _crush_. If it were anyone but his dad, he already would have sung the song of them kissing in a tree, but he didn’t want to imagine that.

In no time at all, it was time to go.

“Say goodbye, Theo,” his dad said, looking like he needed another shower after being under the hot sun moving the heaviest things Laurent owned (with some help from his brother until he left, which really had been soon).

“Bye…I’ll miss you,” he said to Ranger, rubbing his ears. He hoped Laurent would notice how sad he sounded and how happy Ranger looked to be around him. Maybe Laurent would take pity on him or see the love he had for the pup and let him keep him.

He didn’t.

He remembered the looks then, and it was like a light bulb went off as he turned from Ranger to his dad and said without much thought, “You should ask him out and then I can watch Ranger while you're gone."

His dad gaped at him like a fish, his eyebrows high and his mouth open.

He ignored Theo (rude) and turned to Laurent. “I’m sorry about him. He’s just a boy. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

Laurent, who had heard what he’d said as he intended just raised an eyebrow and asked, “So you don’t want my number?”

His dad just stared at him, though he no longer looked like a gaping fish.

“I’m not uninterested,” Laurent said.

Since his dad was being useless, Theo said, “He wants your number.”

His dad ran a hand over his face and grumbled something he didn’t hear, but he didn’t care. Laurent had his dad’s phone in his hand and was putting in his number.

Theo’s heart did a little leap in his chest. This was working out perfectly!

After they left Laurent and rounded the corner he asked, “How long until he moves in, do you think?”

“Theo.” His dad sounded exasperated, but he was smiling so widely Theo wasn’t concerned.

It only took for the end of the year for Laurent to move in. He had overheard Uncle Nik one night telling his dad that he was rushing things. He told him to think of Theo and Theo had a hard time keeping quiet at that. He _wanted_ Laurent to move in. He had grown to love him. Laurent brought over sweets from a really nice bakery and made his dad happy. So happy that whenever Laurent was around, his dad often had a goofy smile on his face. He looked at Laurent like he had a hard time looking anywhere else.

He didn’t say any of that because he was supposed to be in bed, not hiding on the stairs eavesdropping. He made sure to tell Uncle Nik the next time he saw him how much he loved Laurent and Ranger though.

So he was happy when Laurent moved in with them, bringing a much bigger Charls-Ranger DeVere-Akielos with him. He was trying to convince Laurent how unnecessary four names were, or to at least drop DeVere, saying that they should _all_ just be Akielos. It was what was on the mailbox after all.

_“Your father hasn’t even put a ring on my finger yet.”_

_“You’d take my name if I did?”_

Laurent had held a hand up. _“I never said that.”_

He had lost interest in the discussion after that, but his dad and Laurent had gotten engaged soon after, solidifying Laurent’s place, and Ranger’s place, in their home and family.

And that was how Theo got to grow up with the world’s best dog, and got another dad as well!

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at [tenderkings](https://twitter.com/tenderkings)


End file.
